


5 Snapshots in the Life of Jane Bennet

by ofsevenseas



Series: Is It Well to Wish Thee Happy [2]
Category: Lizzie Bennet Diaries
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, Femslash, Mystery crossover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-04
Updated: 2013-03-04
Packaged: 2017-12-04 06:56:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/707849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ofsevenseas/pseuds/ofsevenseas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What the title says.</p><p>(Sequel to Is It Well to Wish Thee Happy, so you might want to read that first.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	5 Snapshots in the Life of Jane Bennet

1.

In the second year of her training all recruits are suddenly required to learn air maneuvers, which included helicopter rescue. Jane didn't relish the thought of heaving a 200-lb dummy into a moving aircraft, over the tortured whump-whump of a chopper and crackling comms, but she had already completed the combined hell of language competency, survival, and PR protocols. Quitting over the aerial equivalent of lifeguard training seemed a bit extreme, so Jane drove out to 'work' as she did every other weekday morning, and braced herself.

Catalina Martinez, who held the record for best hand-to-hand scores across five years of recruits and who was an Air Force pilot besides, grinned at her and said, "Relax, Red. You survived the Mojave wilderness for a week, this is just some upper-body work."

"That's because I remembered a GPS." Jane tied off her bootlaces, and frowned at the asymmetry.

Kate, as she preferred to be called, threw back her head and laughed, "So don't forget to tie yourself to the helicopter, and you'll be fine."

Jane grimaced, and checked that her earpiece was in place. "You say that like we'll survive a fall."

Kate tapped her ear. "Stark tech, Juanita. Maybe he'll come and rescue us. I hear he's got a weakness for tall redheads who bite."

As Jane walks away, she hears Kate holler, "I've got a lifetime of knowledge!"

2\. 

When Caroline is safely out of sight, Gigi turns to Darcy and takes his third cup of coffee away from him. He makes a noise of vague, stunned protest, but Gigi flags down a passing waitress and asks for a very complicated-sounding soy fruit smoothie. Jane takes a look at her utterly demolished breakfast plate and decides that discretion is the better part of valor.

Her own pancakes remain untouched, though Jane had managed to eat most of the garnish out of sheer guilt. After the night she’s had, the strawberry and banana slices sit uneasily in her stomach.

“Honestly, William!” Gigi grumbles, handing a cheerfully pink tall glass to her brother. “You _know_ you aggravate your ulcers when you drink coffee!”

Darcy steals an embarrassed look at Jane, and then manfully downs his fruity concoction in one go.

“Don’t let him fool you,” Gigi says conspiratorially, “He’s just sulking because Caroline ripped him to pieces over how he failed to find Wickham.”

William clears his throat. Jane wonders if she should tell him he has a smidgen of foamy strawberry smoothie on the tip of his nose, but thinks that she probably shouldn’t add to his embarrassment.

“You’ll probably find out soon enough,” he says, “But the Lee family, especially Caroline, tends to look after its own.”

Jane’s eyebrows rise, entirely of their own volition.

Darcy smiles, a wry curl of the lips, echoing Gigi’s wide grin. “Believe me when I say that if Caroline didn’t feel positively towards you, you would already be dead.”

3\. 

Eventually Jane runs out of conference material to read, and she tries to gauge Caroline’s interest in conversation from out the corner of her eye. After the second or third time Jane sneaks a peek at her, Caroline sighs, puts her papers down, and turns to face Jane. 

“Clearly you have something on your mind.” She prods. “Speak up.”

Jane looks at Caroline’s mildly inquisitive expression, wonders how much of it is just a cover and if, despite the Darcy siblings’ insistence to the contrary, she is going to be killed on a transcontinental flight and her body discreetly disposed of en route. (They’re all reasonably sure Caroline had only threatened Wickham, and that he’s still alive to sleaze his way through SoCal, but.) Perhaps some of her alarm shows on her face, because Caroline’s lips twitch slightly, and she turns to smile brilliantly up at a passing air stewardess. 

Nothing happens when the tea arrives, with complementary sandwiches. Caroline sniffs at the tray, but doesn’t comment on the white bread, or the doubtlessly store-bought filling. 

Clutching her cup, Jane says quietly, “I saw Bing at Netherfield.” 

Without giving her the opportunity to continue, Caroline flips her hair over one shoulder and leans forward.

“This conference isn’t meant as a punishment. It’s more of an industry networking session, which begs the question of why you brought your most boring work outfits.”

“You’re wearing dress pants and a sweater.” Jane retorts. She can take a hint, and if Caroline doesn’t want to open up the can of worms that is their shared history, she won’t pry. 

It doesn’t mean Jane will back down, however the full weight of Caroline’s gaze intimidates. 

4.

Jane almost fumbles the doorknob on her way in, which would be embarrassing, given how she’s successfully evaded congressional security and the surveillance cameras. The door is unlocked, which allows Jane to ignore the voice in her head shouting about how many felonies she’s committing.

Caroline is a long graceful line perched against the large mahogany desk at the other end of the office, a Senatorial nameplate discreetly facedown next to her hand. 

“This does not look like an emergency.” Jane says finally.

The line of Caroline’s mouth suggests that Jane looks exactly like her mother, feet planted wide and arms crossed, though she only smirks and says, “I told you to come asap, which is not the same thing.”

“Well, is there a reason you asked me to meet you in someone else’s office?” She decides not to mention the traffic on the way in from Quantico, because the sight of her Bennet-esque irritation would only amuse Caroline more.

(In her crazier moments, when Jane has a chance to think during the frantic static of D.C., she is unsure if Caroline has developed a partiality for her family’s melodramatic instincts, or if that surreptitious curl of the lips is for Jane alone.)

Caroline holds up two freshly baked pretzels, still steaming from the oven, and flourishes them enticingly at Jane. “Do you want the good gossip or not?”

5.

Things were so much easier, Jane decides, when the extended Bennet-Darcy-Williams clan did not all descend on the Darcys’ Aspen cottage (Lizzie insists it’s a rustic mansion, William begs to differ) for the Christmas holidays. For one thing, it meant that Jane could escape inquisitive baby sisters with less effort, but between Lydia and Gigi, she’s being slowly but strategically herded into a corner.

At least this year William has the foresight to gift Mr. and Mrs. Bennet with cruise tickets, in order to avoid a repeat of the Great Turkey Surfeit of ’13.

After an entire week of avoiding affectionate inquisitions from everyone, Jane throws caution to the winds and challenges Fitz in an impromptu New Year’s cook-off. William laughingly appoints himself as judge, while Lydia darts between the teams, sampling indiscriminately. The remaining unfortunates are pressed into service, Gigi jokingly donning a hairnet in honor of the occasion.

When the doorbell rings, everyone looks up at each other, covered in flour or spattered in tomato sauce. Brandon widens his eyes and points at Jane, the only one who managed to avoid becoming collateral damage in the flour fight between Mary and Lydia.

Jane looks down at her hands, which are half-submerged in snickerdoodle cookie dough, and raises an eyebrow at the general atmosphere of expectation.

The doorbell rings again.

“Ugh, whatevs, you guys!” Lydia exclaims, and runs off to the front of the house. 

“I don’t think we can inflict much more damage than we have presently achieved,” William notes ruefully, glancing down at his previously pristine blue sweater. He shuffles off to the front door, perfect host manners registering the possible presence of stranded tourists in need of aid. Fitz snorts, and says, “Right, remind me to tell you about the beer pong contest in junior year.”

As Lizzie interrogates Fitz further, Jane follows William – she knows that her paranoia is probably unnecessary, but she and Caroline share an unspoken agreement to keep an eye out for both Gigi and her brother.

“- spending the New Year with our parents in Fiji, so it’s just me. I hope you don’t mind the imposition.” A familiar voice says. William’s reply is a touch startled. “No! No, of course not, you must know that you are always welcome.”

Jane walks into the spacious entryway of Darcy’s house, a little dazed, and subconsciously puts an arm around Lydia, who’s shivering from the cold. Caroline turns to smile at Jane, restrained but warm, and beside her, Lydia gasps an involuntary “Oh!”

The soft click of William closing the door doesn’t really register for Jane, who says the first thing that comes to her mind.

“Come on in, we’re making snickerdoodles.”


End file.
